


【Flustered】

by Zell_Hatoule



Category: Astral Chain (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Date, Hal has anxiety, Player Character's name is Maxine, in this house we love hal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 03:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20668496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zell_Hatoule/pseuds/Zell_Hatoule
Summary: Hal could do this. It was a freakin’ date for crying out loud. He’d helped her stop the end of the world, had committed treason with her, and dealt with Olive in close quarters! It was just. A. Date.





	【Flustered】

Ooooh boy. Hal’s hands tap nervously over the top of his droid, the cheerful yellow of his metal body sparkling clean and freshly painted. Kyle had been nice, given him a holo-tie that had been a solid black. He’d fought with it, had to loop it through two of the leg prongs and had it hanging down his drone. He’d removed all of the stickers, made sure to spiff up the optical unit.

Now here he is, standing awkwardly in front of his door, fighting with himself to enter the meatspace. He’s the boss of the Hermits. This was the girl who had committed  _ treason _ with him! They’d stopped the end of the world, helped her fight her brother in the ultimate biblical standoff, and spent time with  _ Olive _ in close quarters!!!

It was just one tiny. Freakin’. Date.

* * *

Maxine is not surprised to see Hal in his drone, the figure drooping as it whirs closer to her. Her hair is still up in the typical ponytail, but she’s dressed up today, in a rich honey-colored dress and matching heels. Her Legatus is on her hip instead of her back, and she has a shawl over her shoulders to protect from the coming winter chill. She looks _beautiful_, and Hal is not happy that he wasn't in person to see it.

“Couldn’t do it?” She says sympathetically, pats the top of a bright yellow dome with a smile. “It’s okay Hal, I know it’s a big step.” Hal gives an unheard whine of distress from behind his screen. He didn’t  _ want _ to be stuck in his room - he wanted to stick by her  _ side.  _ She really was too nice to him . Maxine taps his head gently with a fingertip, and she smiles at him warmly. “Don’t worry Hal - I brought presents for your drone anyways - gives me a chance to use them.” She digs around in her pocket and presents the decal stack to him with a flourish. It’s a bright blue and white color, depicts a cute, cartoon Legion. Of course, it’s a Sword Legion. She twists her fingers, and other glossy versions of the colorful Legions appear. “Ta-dah!” She beams at him. “Jin approved them for public use. With the anime version of them out, Neuron has a small marketing department so that we can put the money forward for repairs.” She chuckles slightly. “I’ve got one in red foil and black. Hermit colors, y'know. Gotta keep up with the times. Do you want one?”

_ Oh boy did he  _ **ever**.

“Y-yeah! I’d love that!” Maxine grins at his enthusiastic response, lifts him up so she has a better vantage point from which to apply it, grins at the holo-tie and flicks it.

“You’re looking pretty dapper today - is that a fresh coat of paint? And a  _ tie? _ You dressed up for me,” She says, affectionate. His drone whirs, and behind the screen, Hal turns a bit red. She peels off the backing tape for the red and black Sword Legion, applies it on the very front so it shines prettily in the light. Leaning over, she plants a kiss against the top of the head, leaving a faint imprint of her lipstick on it’s head. “There - a kiss to go,” she tells him. Hal is so  _ very _ glad he’s on mute.

The high-pitched whistling noise he’d made would have been hard to explain otherwise.

“U-uh… thanks?” He squeaks, glad he hadn’t turned on his holovision. Otherwise she’d see that his head was in his hands. It didn’t mean much, since he could still see through the mask, but it was the thought that counted. Maxine chuckles at him, pats the top of his head and pulls out her little holo-book.

“I took the liberty of planning for a secondary date,” she tells him fondly. “How about instead of that lunch, you walk with me and buy me some ice cream and we stare at fancy tech gadgets? There’s a new store that opened up with some high-tech goodies. Maybe you can cannibalize some parts and upgrade your drone.” She offers with a smile. Hal floats there, awkward and delighted all at once. They walk together - well, he floats by her side - and the pair enjoy the walk, Maxine taking the time to point out each unique landscape, talks a little about her restoration projects that she’s helped with. Hal Likes how into her work she is, how happy she looks when she talks to her brother, and he tentatively extends one of his cables, wraps it around her wrist. Maxine blinks, stares at it for a moment, before a laugh leaves her, and she takes the cable, winds it around her hand like a caress. Hal’s hands grow shaky on the controls, and his drone see-saws slightly. “Don’t you worry Hal - I got you.” She tugs him further along the road, and they finally stop at the store.

From there, it’s easier. There’s plenty of meatspace, but instead of the incredulous looks, more than one person compliments his drone, chats specs and processing, argues heatedly over the overclocking functions of a gaming machine and the applications on drones. Maxine simply watches with an indulgent smile, and when they walk (float) out, Maxine is carrying a bag of gyrosensor and optical chips, though he’d stuttered an apology for making her purchase them for him. She only laughs at him, doesn’t hear another word of it, plants a fresh lipstick kiss on his head.

This time she does hear his high-pitched squeak, playfully flicks him on his antennae. He insists on buying her the ice cream, receives the pleasure of her laughing at his attempt to deliver it via flight. There’s a scary moment when a dog sees him and starts trying to take the ice cream, but he only drops the one on the floor, and he’s quite proud of himself. Maxine seems to think so, thanks him with a third kiss.

He’s getting better, though his high-pitched squeak does not seem to indicate that. Eventually, they do end up loitering around the Zone 09 entrance, and Maxine dangles her legs over the edge, looks down.

“H-hey. Maxine?” Hal has to try twice before he realizes he’d put himself on mute by accident. He tries again, and she looks at him, smiling. “Uh. I want to try something.” She raises a brow at him, but gracefully concedes to his awkward offer. He floats closer, and carefully undoes the cords, offers her enough space to sit on it. “I know you joked about it… but how does a romantic flight sound?” Maxine’s expression shifts to wonder, and she happily plants a  _ fourth _ kiss on his head dome.  _ Man, I’m on a roll _ , Hal thinks dazedly, pilots the drone until she can sit on the cables. He slowly lowers her down, flying over the heads of the officers, though she gives a cheery wave and hello to them, receives disgruntled responses back. She waves enthusiastically at the last officer, who flies the bird in her direction, receives one from her.

She whoops when they hit open air, and Hal can’t help but cheer and give himself a fist pump - The sun is just starting to set, and he couldn’t have planned it better, the two sailing over golden-colored rooftops, Maxine waving at everyone below and getting cheery calls in return. He swoops over the river that cuts through, floating past the Hermit Base, where Kyle is - amusingly enough - reading a newspaper.

“Hal. Hal Hal _Hal_.” Maxine says urgently, and he stops. “I wanna see if Kyle’s gonna look up.” That was really  _ all _ her, though he could admit, it sounded funny, and it would be worth it to see his holo-mask change to surprise. He floats closer, swoops in so he can block the sun with her body. Kyle swats the black spot that is Maxine’s swinging foot, and though they can’t hear him they both know he’s cursing, hand swatting empty air. Maxine’s starting to giggle, and finally, Kyle looks up. His mask changes to an exclamation point, and he hurries over to the window. Hal hustles them back, and when Kyle’s head pokes out, there’s a manic grin on his face.

“Guys!” His happiness is blatant, and he gives them both a wave, tries to snatch Maxine off. Hal speeds away, keeps her just out of hugging range. “Hey there Mad Lad,” Kyle says with a laugh, half hanging out of his window, gets a _bzzap_ from Hal in response. “Hey beautiful - date’s going well right?” She rolls her eyes at him, and Hal snickers.

“Just came to say hello,” Maxine says with a smile, leans over to fist-bump him, and he lets her, waves them off. “Don’t get too bored without me and Hal, okay? Beat up a few of those newbies or something.” Kyle’s holomask fritzes to an excited exclamation point, and he gives her a thumbs up, pulling back to go and terrify a few newbies. Hal moves on, the two dipping and weaving through the buildings, so very close to _their_ place. That’s when an idea, quiet and nebulous, forms in his mind. As the sun dives below the city, Hal descends, silently floating down the buildings, leading her back to their HQ. He settles her down, and offers a cable towards her again. She eyes it, smiles, and accepts. “Where to now?” She asks, and he leads her up a reasonably maintained stairwell, the two climbing up several stairs until they reach a squeaky clean lining. He tugs her to the last door, and gives her a slit-eye smile.

“Knock.” He tells her, and Maxine eyes him, before her eyes go wide.

“You’re  _ joking _ ,” She says, but does so. Hal sets his drone on her head, gets a startled laugh as he turns it off. He swallows nervously, removes his mask. He walks to the door, cracks it open.

“Hey.” He says.

“Hey yourself,” she says, smiling at him. “Can I come in?” She asks him, and he nods awkwardly, gives a shy smile.

“Please. It’s nice to meet you in person.” He tells her, offers her his hand. She takes it, and he almost melts at the warmth.

“Likewise.” She leans in, presses a kiss against his cheek. His face burns a bright red, and he knows he looks like a goof. But when she sets his drone down and deposits his gifts on the table, he doesn’t care. He’d just gotten a date with the coolest girl in the world.

He was  _ so _ lucky.


End file.
